Purpose: Whisperer of Night

by Keya Jay

  ***

  “Hey Kid,” Hank said as he came into the house all sweaty from his morning run.

  “My mother’s not here,” Sidney said as she picked through the fridge and tried to decide what to have for breakfast.

  “What does your mother do?” he asked.

  Sidney pulled out a packet of turkey bacon and a few eggs.

  “What do you mean?” she asked as she sat the items down on the counter and heated the skillet.

  “For a living,” he explained.

  “All of this time yall’ve spent together and that hasn’t come up?” she asked curiously as she laid the bacon down at the bottom of the pan.

  “No I just want to know what she told you.”

  “Who are you implying she lied to you or me?” she asked over the pop and sizzling of the bacon.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Hank said.

  “Well then what makes you think she’s lying at all?”

  “She’s—she doesn’t need a job,” he quickly changed.

  Ok she knew what this was about.

  “You think that just because my mother’s a whisperer she shouldn’t have to work so you want to know why she bothers. Well my mother’s not a whisperer only my father is—”

  “Was” he corrected.

  “Was,” she was reluctant to add.

  “How do you know so much about whisperers seeing as though it seemed to have skipped a generation where you’re concerned?”

  “My father is the greatest of you all, word gets around.”

  “Was,” he tried to correct again.

  “No I meant is,” she said simply.

  “Why are you even with my mother? If I was able to tell that she wasn’t a wisp then I’m pretty sure you already figured it out seeing as though you’re a wisp and all?” she asked as she flipped the bacon.

  “Why would I care if your mother’s a wisp or not?” “Can you hand me a bottle of water?” he said as he sat at one of the kitchen stools.

  “It’s no secret that wisps don’t like humans Hank and you know that,” Sidney said as she handed him a bottle of water.

  “Yea but your mother’s different,” he said as he uncapped the bottle.

  “Why? Because she was able to snag the greatest wisp?” Sidney questioned as she plated the bacon.

  “You’re smart but that’s not it.”

  “So then what is it? She’s my mother you know if you just plan on hurting her I’d be stupid to let you.”

  “What could you possibly do?” he asked amused.

  “What you should be asking is what is it I already did?” Sidney said as she cracked the eggs and added them to the skillet.

  “What are you getting at?”

  “I know more about wisps than the wisps themselves, you included,” she said casually as she pushed the eggs around and began scrambling them.

  “And what exactly do you know?”

  “Again wrong question Hank stay with me here,” she said as she turned toward the fridge and grabbed a few slices of cheese.

  “Ok what should I ask instead?” he asked curiously.

  “You should be asking how is it I came to know so much,” Sidney said as she turned back to the stove.

  “How do you know?” he asked.

  “My father,” she answered simply as she added the cheese to the eggs.

  “What about him?” he asked.

  Sidney could detect a bit of fear in his voice as he asked it.

  “He has a book of rules for every good leader to follow, this book also contains every Whisperers secret out there” she said as she put the eggs on the plate with the bacon.

  “And I have it,” she finished.

  “Bon appetit,” Sidney said as she sat the plate down in front of him and walked away.